Former superstar Daisuke Matsuzaka, who returned to Japan after mixed results in eight seasons in the majors to sign with the Fukuoka Softbank Hawks, has not appeared in a single game for the big club this season. Softbank paid ¥400 million to bring Matsuzaka ...

By guiding Nadeshiko Japan into the semifinals of the Women’s World Cup for a second consecutive time, coach Norio Sasaki has clearly established his acumen as both a motivator and strategist. The teamwork displayed on the side’s second goal in a 2-1 victory over ...

“A promise made is a debt unpaid.” — Robert Service The saying of the late British-Canadian poet is apropos when it comes to what we are seeing with the shell game that has become of the venues for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. It certainly ...

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His draw at the French Open seemed almost tailor-made. He seemed to have a fairly clear path to the final, likely to face players he had beaten recently in the later rounds, while big guns Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray battled it ...

Mao Asada’s decision to come back to competitive skating is certainly good news. That big sound you heard recently wasn’t a sonic boom, but rather the executives at the Japan Skating Federation exhaling. John F. Kennedy popularized the phrase “a rising tide lifts all ...

The speculation is growing by the minute. Maybe by the second. It will be a long weekend for skating fans as they wait to find out what three-time world champion Mao Asada will decide about her future. Will she return to competition? Or retire ...

The IOC’s decision last week to allow the organizers of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics to move the basketball competition out to Saitama Super Arena puts an end to any hope the sport ever had of becoming high profile in Japan. The original plans had ...

What a difference three years makes. When Kei Nishikori made the quarterfinals of the Australian Open back in 2012, it was such a big deal that NHK bought the rights to the match and aired it live here in the middle of the day. ...

“The feeling here is that she would be better served by taking a year off — like Vancouver Olympic champion Kim Yu Na did — to recharge her batteries before making such a huge choice. Perhaps some time away will let her gain some ...

Final thoughts and parting shots on the Sochi Games: I think the competition was a smashing success despite the attempts of many to undermine it. The Western media — primarily American — which tried to ruin the Winter Olympics beforehand with a litany of ...

Some thoughts and observations after a week at the Winter Olympic Games: The Main Press Center and the International Broadcasting Center are massive structures that are connected. Inside the buildings are restaurants, coffee shops, a bank, a cleaners, a pharmacy, a gym, an Internet ...

Pretty sad to see the negotiations over the new posting system between NPB and MLB continue to drag on. It’s already December now and MLB teams are trying to set their rotations for next season. It doesn’t look too good when NPB sends its ...